Creating a new marketing strategy for your small business can be hard. No matter what your product or service is, you still need to figure out how to convey your message to the right people, at the right time and also for the right price. Whether you’re just launching your new brand, or you’ve got an established business up and running, the end goal is the same:
Make the most of your budget and bring in the most revenue possible.
There is a common misconception that to have an effective marketing strategy, you have to pay to play. While that can be true, it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Today, we are going to be discussing 5 simple ways to showcase how starting a podcast can help your business grow no matter what stage of life your company is in.
1. Establishing a connection with your target audience.
In most cases, people prefer to hear someone talking to them rather than reading a piece of text. This is because it helps them to better understand the context of your content when they can hear how your tone is conveyed. People want to hear about things that are perceived as important and for most entrepreneurs, your brand is one of the most important things to you.
Utilize your passion and convey it to your audience through your tone of voice. The beauty of podcasts is that it has a unique way of being able to “humanize” your company. No matter what you’re buying or selling, being able to associate a human voice with a brand increases your consumers’ likelihood of engaging with your brand further.
2. Brand awareness.
Due to the recent, increased awareness surrounding podcasting, more and more people are choosing to listen to podcasts as opposed to music both in their free time and for educational purposes while working. This content can be accessed using smartphones, speakers, radio, or other subscriptions such as third-party apps and secondary listeners.
As a result, “there are an estimated 226 Million people (ages 12 +) in the United States alone that have reported that they are familiar with podcasting” according to Infinite Dial. The best way to utilize this information and increase your brand awareness is through what I like to call the 3 C’s of business growth.
- Consistency. Most of us have heard of the internet phenomenon commonly referred to as “blowing up overnight” An example of this would be the popular podcast Stuff You Should Know starring Josh Clark and John Wayne Bryant. Though a household name to the podcasting community now, they spent 3 years perfecting their craft and consistently posting content regularly before their channel gained enough traction to win the Webby Awards in 2011.
*It is essential that you don’t let your initial numbers discourage you from getting your message across to the people who care, it takes some time for everyone, not just you!
- Credibility. Once you’ve got some content drafted up, and you have a consistent plan to post every week, you can start building up your credibility. This can be done in several different ways, but the most straightforward method is to invite other professionals to interview or co-host an episode with you. This should be promoted ( tips on ways to do that are found here).Do not treat your first collaboration like any old weekly post. The best thing you can do is LET YOUR LISTENERS KNOW what’s going on, who it’s with, and most importantly when it airs! Keeping your viewers updated promotes a sense of being “in the know” for your community which is vital in the beginning stages of your podcast and brand development.
- Community. Once you have acquired consistent credibility within your target audience, you are well on your way to fostering your very own podcast community. Maintaining this through scheduled posts, and credible guests will increase your standing on a consistent basis. Remember a strong community means loyal consistent customers.
- Consistency. Most of us have heard of the internet phenomenon commonly referred to as “blowing up overnight” An example of this would be the popular podcast Stuff You Should Know starring Josh Clark and John Wayne Bryant. Though a household name to the podcasting community now, they spent 3 years perfecting their craft and consistently posting content regularly before their channel gained enough traction to win the Webby Awards in 2011.
3. A way to connect with your customers all at one time.
As entrepenuers, we all know that the best way to connect with your customers is through the spoken word, but what happens when your business really starts to take off? You want your customers to know that throughout their time with you, the connection you have formed will not falter. An easy way to maintain that connection without having to set up hundreds or even thousands of one-on-ones is through your podcasting community.
This is where establishing that sense of consistent community within your group will begin to “pay it forward”. Not only will your listeners have access to your content 24 hours a day, but they also have access to each other.
The comment section of most podcasts is a forum of information from the community you want to reach most, take advantage of it by being interactive in the conversation. Answering those followup questions after your audience has had a chance to hear your podcast establishes dialogue that makes your customer feel important not only to the conversation but to you personally.
4. Your prospects are listening.
As I previously mentioned, there are an estimated 226 million Americans who are familiar with the podcasting platform, but how many of them fit your potential consumer? According to the yearly study conducted by The Infinite Dial, 62% of the US population (roughly 117 million people) reported listening to a podcast ever, and 38% (roughly 109 million people) reported listening to podcasts on a monthly basis.
Let me say that again 109 MILLION people in the United States alone have some sort of access to your content and WANT to engage with you!
5. It’s lucrative.
In addition to sponsorships, bringing in extra leads that are generated by your chosen production platform will also bring in extra revenue to your site solely based on your increased SEO ranking. If you didn’t know already, Google LOVES video content.
According to Motioncue.com, “with video being the most dynamic kind of content out there, users stay on your website for an extended period of time, which translates into lower bounce rates resulting in high page rankings.”
Simply put, people are more interested in your video/audio content than they are in reading an article about the same topic because it takes less energy than dialing into a 2,000-word article on the go (like most entrepreneurs are nowadays.)
The bottom line is: Starting a podcast for your business is a great way to establish a real connection with your audience, increase your brand awareness, and most importantly provide a lucrative asset for your growing business. I understand the thought of beginning a podcast can be daunting, but the thought of missing out on millions of prospective clientele cannot be overlooked. With so many platforms and spaces dedicated to helping you start, it should be a no-brainer to kick off your first episode!
Let us know what you create on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Happy podcasting!
